Method of and machine for turning the platform covers of platform shoes



Jan. 28, 1947. c. G. MELANSON 2,414,835

METHOD OFAND MACHINE FOR. TURNING- THE I PLATFORM COVERS OF PLATFORM SHOES Filed Oct. 3, 1944 2 Sheets- Sheet 1 4 in van mi 1 Charles G .Melcmson jmm c. G. MELANsoN 14,835

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR TURNING THE PLATFORM COVERS OF PLATFORM SHOES Filed Oct. 3, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inuen for Charles G Melarzsorz B his Attorney Patented Jan. 28, 1947 METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR TURNING THE PLATFORM COVERS OF PLATFORM SHOES Charles G. Melanson, Lynn, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application October 3, 1944, Serial No. 556,996

12 Claims. (Cl. 12-1) This invention relates to' methods of and machines for turning the platform covers of platform shoes. Such shoes, which are disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 234:1,675, granted February 15, 1944, on an application filed in the name of John J. Walsh, are characterized by a relatively thick platform interposed between the insole and the outsole and having its edge covered with sheet material which has first been stitched to the upper and the insole and which is later laid and secured under the edge of the platform. While the platform may consist of a midsole alone, it usually comprises a midsole and a wedge heel secured together as a unitary assembly.

Before the cover can be laid and secured under the platform, it must first be turned down from the upright position in which it was stitched. The operation of turning the cover is often performed after a last has been inserted in the shoe and after the platform has been applied. The cover usually hugs the upper of the shoe tightly and cannot be turned by hand without considerable difliculty at the heel end, particularly when a wedge heel constitutes a part of the platform. Often the cover can .be turned at the heel end only by the use of pincers; and, in any case, the operation as heretofore carried out is laborious and time-consuming.

An object of this invention is to provide a method of turning platform covers. To carry out this method, one side of the marginal portion of a platform cover is engaged with a plurality of yielding fingers, and the other side is subjected to a frictional drag to hold the margin of the cover stationary. The shoe is then moved heightwise to turn the cover.

Another object of this invention is to provide a machine for turning platform covers. In accordance with this object, the machine disclosed herein is provided. with a pair of members for gripping the marginal portion of a platform cover of a shoe along substantially continuous lengths of the cover at opposite sides of the shoe in combination with means for effecting a relative heightwise movement between the shoe and the gripping members to cause the cover to be turned. In the illustrative machine one of the gripping members consists of a rubber roll having a grooved periphery which yields to receive the heel end of the shoe when the shoe is presented. The other gripping member consists of a plate of resilient metal curved to fit around the heel end of the shoe and slit to form a plurality of spring fingers united at their bases and yieldable independently of one another at their tips. The spring metal plate is pivotally mounted to enable the operator, after introducing the heel end of the shoe into it, to urge the shoe and the plate together into the groove of the roll. The roll, which is constantly rotated from any suitable source of power, first draws the marginal portion of the platform cover of the shoe over the tips of the spring fingers and then holds the marginal portion of the cover gripped while a treadleoperated plunger engages the shoe bottom and moves the shoe heightwise to cause the cover to be turned.

These and other features of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a shoe engaged by the gripping members of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the shoe and gripping members just after the marginal portion of the platform cover has been turned over the ends of the spring fingers; and

Fig. 4 is a View similar to Fig. 3 showing the shoe and the gripping members when the operation has been almost completed.

The operating instrumentalities of the illustrated machine consist of a gripping member H3 in the form of a plurality of spring fingers, a peripherally grooved rubber roll i2, and a plunger M engageable with the bottom of a shoe S. The supporting structure of the machine consists of a cast metal base I 6 from which extends an upright column I 8 supporting a head 28,

The rubber roll 12 is in the form of a disk having a pair of cylindrical side flanges 22 between which is formed a deep peripheral groove 24., This roll is rigidly secured upon a hub 28 which, in turn, is rigidly mounted upon a shaft 28 driven by a sprocket wheel 39. Power is supplied to the sprocket wheel 30 from a motor 32 mounted on a shelf 34 secured to the head 2d. The motor 32 operates through reduction gearing in a housing 36 to drive the sprocket 39 through a sprocket 38 and a chain 49.

The gripping member It consists of a plate 52 of sheet metal slit heightwise to form a plurality of upwardly extending spring fingers it having their tips 46 rounded and yieldable independently of one another and having their bases united by the lower unslit portion 48 of the plate 42. The plate 42 is rounded to such a shape as to enable the upper portion of the fingers 44 to embrace the heel end of a shoe with yielding pressure when the heel end of the shoe is forced into the concavity formed by the fingers, the resilience of the fingers sui-licing to adapt them to all sizes and widths of shoes. The lower portion of the plate is arcuate with a radius considerably greater than the radius of curvature of the heel end of the shoe and is secured to a rigid arcuate plate 5 which, in turn, is carried by a lever 52 fulcrumed upon a pin 5. A bracket 55 carried by the column i8 supports the fulcrum pin 54 with the axis of the fulcrum pin parallel to the axis of the roll 22. The curvature of the plate 62 is symmetrical about a vertical plane which is normal to the axis of the roll i2 and which divides the roll into two equal parts. A compression spring 58 interposed between an arm 66 extending from the lever 52 and the upper surface of a flange 62 on the bracket 56 urges the gripper member ill in a counterclockwise direction (as viewed in the drawings) about its fulcrum 5% as far as permitted by a knurled stop nut 64 threaded upon the lower end of a pin 66. The upper end of the pin 66 is pivotally connected to the arm Bil. The pin 66, as shown in the drawings, extends downwardly through the center of the spring 58 and passes through a hole in the flange 62. The nut 5 bears against the under surface of the flange 62. A stop screw 6? threaded into a block on the bracket 55 adjustably limits the movement of the gripping member l8 toward the roll l2.

The plunger M is provided with a head 63 having a broad bearing surface for engagement with the bottom of the shoe S. The shank portion of the plunger it extends downwardly between two pairs of guide rolls 'H) and 12 carried by brackets 14 and '16, respectively, which brackets, in turn, are mounted on the column l8. Rigidly secured in the lower end of the plunger I4 is a horizontal pin 18 which extends into a closed slot 80 formed longitudinally in a lever 82 adjacent to one end of the lever. A link 84 pivotally connects the opposite end of the lever 82 to a treadle 86 fulcrumed upon a pin 88 secured in the base IS. A tension spring 90 interposed between the rearwardly extending end of the treadle 86 and the base it; normally holds the treadle 86 up to a stop position determined by the engagement of the pin $8 with the end of the slot 80.

The operation of the machine will now be described. The shoe S, which is mounted on a last L, is presented in upright position by hand to the gripper i8 and is pressed inwardly toward the roll [2. When the shoe is first presented, the spring fingers M yield and press lightly against the platform cover C of the shoe. It should be observed that the operator presents the shoe with the upper edge of the cover C a little above the tips d6 of the spring fingers to leave a marginal portion M of the cover which is not embraced by the spring fingers. Further inward pressure of the shoe causes the spring 58 to yield and moves the shoe far enough into the groove 24 to cause the flanges 22 of the rubber roll [2 to spread, as shown in Fig. 2. Inward movement of the gripper member ID is adjustably limited by the stop 61 to avoid any danger of the tips 46 gouging into the base of the groove 24 and damaging the roll 12. The first effect of the constantly rotating roll I2 is to wipe the marginal portion M of the platform cover C outwardly over the tips '26 of the spring fingers 44. The inward pressure exerted by the operator and the continuous downward frictional wiping of the rubber against the turned margin M holds the margin firmly While the operator moves the shoe heightwise by depressing the treadle 86 and urging the plunger 14 upwardly into engagement with the shoe bottom and then high enough to move the shoe upwardly. Such upward movement of the shoe while the margin M is held down by the gripping members serves to turn the cover C down into position suitable for lasting it over the heel of the shoe. It will be noted that this operation serves to turn the entire heel portion of the cover at once. The remaining portion of the cover C may then be turned by hand or by any other suitable means.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

I. A method of turning the platform covers of platform shoes which consists in pressing one side of the marginal portion of a platform cover of a shoe against a driven surface to hold the marginal portion of the cover stationary, and moving the shoe heightwise relatively to the pressed marginal portion of the platform cover to turn the cover.

2. That improvement in methods of pulling or tensioning materials of shoes which consists in gripping a margin of the shoe material between a plurality of yielding fingers and a rotary friction pad, rotating the pad to cause it to exert a continuous wiping action on the margin of the material, and moving the shoe in a direction op posed to said wiping action to pull the material.

3. A machine for turning the platform covers of platform shoes comprising cooperating members for gripping between them the marginal portion of a platform cover of a shoe at the heel end of the shoe, said gripping members being complementally curved to accommodate the curvature of the platform cover around the heel end of the shoe, and means for effecting a relative heightwise movement between the shoe and the gripping members to caus the cover to be turned.

4. A machine for turning the platform covers of platform shoes comprising flexible cooperating members for gripping between them the marginal portion of a platform cover of a shoe at the heel end of the shoe, said gripping members being complementally curved to accommodate the curvature of the platform cover around the heel end of the shoe, and a plunger engageable with the shoe bottom and movable heightwise of the shoe to move the shoe while the marginal portion of the cover is held by said gripping members, thereby causing the cover to be turned.

5. In a machine for turning the platform covers of platform shoes, means for gripping the marginal portion of a platform cover comprising a gripping member engageable with one surface of the cover, and a cooperating gripping member in the form of a rubber pad engageable with the opposite surface of the cover.

6. In a machine for turning the platform covers of platform shoes, means for gripping the marginal portion of a platform cover of a shoe comprising a gripping member engageable with one surface of the cover adjacent to the heel end of the shoe, a cooperating gripping member in the form of a rubber roll having a peripheral groove to receive yieldingly the heel end of the shoe and to engage the opposite surface of the cover, and means for driving said roll to cause it to wipe the margin of the cover in a direction to oppose tween said gripping members.

Z. In a machine for turning the platform covers of platform shoes, means for gripping the marginal portion of a platform cover of a shoe comprising a gripping member engageabl with one surface of the cover adjacent to the heel end of the shoe, and a cooperating gripping member in the form of a plurality of spring fingers engageable with the opposite surface of the cover.

8. In a machine for turning the platform covers of platform shoes, means for gripping the marginal portion of a platform cover of a shoe comprising a gripping member engageable with one surface of the cover adjacent to the heel end of the shoe, and a cooperating gripping member in the form of a plate of resilient metal curved to fit around the heel end of the shoe and slit to form a plurality of spring fingers united at their bases and yieldable independently of one another for engaging the opposite surface of the cover.

9. A machine for turning the platform covers of platform shoes comprising a gripping member of spring sheet metal curved to fit around the heel end of a shoe, a cooperating gripping member in the form of a concave rubber pad, a pivotal mounting for one of said members to enable that member to be swung into gripping relation with the other member, and a treadle-operated plunger engageable with a shoe bottom to move the shoe heightwise when the marginal portion of a platform cover on the shoe has been gripped between said members, the purpose of such heightwise movement of the shoe being to turn the cover.

10. A machine for turning the platform covers of platform shoes comprising a gripping member of resilient sheet metal curved to fit around the heel end of a shoe and slit to form a. plurality of spring fingers which are united at their bases and independently yieldable at their tips, a cooperating gripping member in the form of a rubber roll grooved peripherally to receive yielding the heel end of the shoe, a pivotal mounting for the sheet metal gripping member to enable that gripping member when engaged by a shoe which is manipulated by the operator to swing into gripping relation with the rubber roll, means for rotating the rubber roll to cause it to turn the marginal portion of the platform cover over the ends of the spring fingers and to hold said marginal portion against slipping after it has been turned, a plunger engageable with the shoe bottom, a treadie, and connections from said treadle for moving the plunger to cause heightwise movement of the shoe thereby causing the remaining portion of the platform cover to be turned while the marginal portion is held gripped between the spring fingers and the rubber roll.

11. A machine for turning the platform covers of platform shoes comprising cooperating mem bers for gripping between them the marginal portion of a platform cover of a shoe at the heel end of the shoe, said gripping members being complementally curved to accommodate the curvature of the platform cover around the heel end of the shoe, one of the gripping members being movable toward the other in a direction lengthwise of the shoe to cause a ripping pressure to be developed through the work between the gripping members, and means for effecting a relative heightwise movement between the shoe and the gripping members to cause the cover to be turned.

12. In a machine for turning the platform covers of platform shoes, means for gripping the marginal portion of a platform cover of a shoe comprising a gripping member engageable with one surface of the cover adjacent to the heel end of the shoe, a cooperating gripping member in the form of a plurality of spring fingers engageable with the opposite surface of the cover, and a support for one of said gripping members constructed and arranged to enable that gripping member to be moved towardthe other gripping member in a direction lengthwise of the shoe to cause a gripping pressure to be developed through the work between the gripping members.

CHARLES G. MELANSON.

Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,414,885. January 28, 1947. CHARLES G. MELANSON It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Column 5, line 42, claim 10, for yielding read yieldingly; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Ofice.

Signed and sealed this 14th day of October, A. D. 1947.

[SEAL] THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Uommissz'oner of Patents. 

